CUMBERLAND – September 18, 2026

Senator Mike McKay earned the endorsement of the AFL-CIO in his bid for re-election to the Maryland Senate — an endorsement that does not often go to a Republican.

McKay represents a district built by union labor. Allegany, Garrett, and Washington Counties are coal country, rail country, and building-trades country, where a third-generation miner and a third-generation Democrat are frequently the same person, and where the question at the kitchen table is whether the work is still going to be here in ten years.

“I do not ask a man who he voted for before I go to work on his job,” McKay said. “Out here the paycheck is not a partisan issue. Either the work stays in Western Maryland or it does not, and I am judged on which one happens.”

McKay sponsored Senate Bill 26 this session to create a new energy framework allowing independent power providers to serve new commercial and industrial customers without raising costs for households already on the grid. He argued the bill in committee as a jobs measure: a way for Maryland to compete for industrial investment without sending the bill to families who are already struggling to pay for electricity.

He has also fought the steady climb of state fees that come straight out of a working paycheck, pushing amendments this year to roll back vehicle registration increases and to create a dedicated Roads and Bridges Account so transportation money actually reaches roads and bridges.

“Western Marylanders are feeling these costs everywhere, at the MVA, at the pump, in the utility bill,” McKay said. “I went to Annapolis to fight for relief, not to watch the majority keep nickel-and-diming the people I represent.”

###

Stay up to date on Senator McKay’s fight for Western Maryland — sign up for his District Newsletter at MikeMcKayMD.com/#newsletter.